The New Rich: Personal Freedom, Personal Wealth and a Love for Travel

What's the first thing that comes to mind when someone says the word "rich" to you? Is is fur jewelry, nice cars and fancy things? A high paying career in corporate America with a loft in SOHO? Or do you think of personal freedom with a side of travel? To the surprise of many, millenials are reinventing what society has deemed "rich" in their own way.

The other night a good friend and I were having a discussion about what life has been like in the dirty thirty club. Everyone is getting married and purchasing homes. Girls trips have turned into couples trips, and life becomes a rat race to make it to the highest tax bracket before you turn 40. In short, everyone's focus shifts to adulting and with adulting comes the desire to have more wealth.

During our conversation we spoke about the urge to merge and the choice to live a life without kids or home ownership. We discussed financial freedom and what being "rich" looks like to millenials. "Why do you have to own a home" she asked. "Carrie Bradshaw lived in an apartment forever and she loved it. As a matter of fact, when she came back from her break up with Big, she went home and that's where she was happiest". She did didn't she? The only time I've ever thought about purchasing property is to turn it for a profit. Does that make me strange?

Just to be clear, i'm aware Carrie Bradshaw is a fictional character but my friend had a point nonetheless. We then went on to discuss how being "rich" looked like personal freedom to the both of us. Being rich means having the ability to maintain the career you love or your own personal business while sustaining an income large enough to pay your bills and enjoy life. We agreed that having the ability to set your own schedule and travel the world is wealth. We agreed that there's nothing wrong with people who's dream is to own a home and have a family; we also agreed there's nothing wrong with the people who don't desire those things.

For me personally, being rich is all about the ability to create the life I truly desire without worrying about the burdens of societal expectations holding me back. Being rich is having the ability to create the career of your dreams, booking a trip without batting an eye at the price of the ticket or hotel, and learning how to improve spiritual knowledge of self every single day. Being rich means to living to do "your work". Not working to live.

There is no true set expectation of what "being rich" will mean to everyone individually. For one person it may be a dollar amount, for the next it may mean obtaining personal freedom. No particular way of living your life is better than another. I do however encourage everyone to delve into this concept of having a "new rich" mentality. If nothing else, learn what being rich means to you as an individual. After all, happy is the new rich.